Hunter's grand slam lifts Twins
SEATTLE -- Headed to his first All-Star game, Torii Hunter got another thrill with a crucial grand slam off his nemesis.
"Jeff Nelson owns me," Hunter said after hitting his tiebreaking grand slam to cap an eight-run seventh inning in the Minnesota Twins' 8-4 victory Friday night over the Seattle Mariners. "Every time I've faced him, he's been nasty."
The AL Central-leading Twins ended a nine-game losing streak against the AL West-leading Mariners and they ended a six-game losing streak in Seattle. The Mariners won eight of nine from Minnesota last season.
Hunter, who will start for the American League All-Stars in Milwaukee Tuesday night, connected for his 19th homer of the season off Nelson (1-1).
"He's got the Nintendo slider," Hunter said of Nelson. "I wasn't trying to swing for the fence. I made contact and the ball went out. I don't know how."
James Baldwin took a 4-0 lead into the seventh. Corey Koskie led off the inning with a double and scored on Matthew LeCroy's single before Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer chasing Baldwin.
After Nelson came in, Bobby Kielty singled and went to second on third baseman Jeff Cirillo's throwing error. A.J. Pierzynski's single moved Kielty to third and he scored on a wild pitch by Nelson to pinch-hitter David Ortiz to tie the score at 4.
Ortiz walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Denny Hocking and Cristian Guzman sacrificed Pierzynski to third and Hocking to second. Doug Mientkiewicz was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hunter followed with his homer to right-center for his third career grand slam.
Hunter said the key to his at bat was getting ahead of Nelson 3-1.
"I felt pretty good when he fell behind," he said. "The count was in my favor and I got something up that I could handle. When you're ahead, you can usually hit anybody."
Eric Milton (10-6) retired the final 10 batters to get his first career victory in six decisions against Seattle despite giving up homer runs to Mike Cameron and John Olerud.
Cameron gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead in the third with a three-run shot and Olerud hit a solo homer in the fourth.
Milton pitched his first complete game of the season and gave up four runs on seven hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. It was the ninth career complete game.
Milton said he got a second wind after Hunter's grand slam.
"That was unbelievable," he said. "But Torii Hunter's been huge all year so that shouldn't have surprised me. He's come up big time after time. After that big inning, I was ready to finish it off."
Notes: Minnesota's last win in Seattle came Sept. 8, 2000. The Twins' last victory over the Mariners was May 22, 2001, at Minnesota. ... Hunter's last grand slam came June 8, 2001, against Pittsburgh. ... Corey Koskie of the Twins, who had two doubles, has a 10-game hitting streak. ... The Mariners rested Ichiro Suzuki for the night. Suzuki started all of his team's first 82 games: 78 in RF and four at DH. ... The Mariners announced they have placed RHP Ryan Franklin on the 15-day disabled list .
Box score on Page 4B